Special Yellow Perch Conference Open to Public
By John Karl
RACINE, Wis. (5/29/99) — The public will get a chance to quiz scientists about the 10-year-old decline of yellow perch in Lake Michigan at a special day-long conference to be held Saturday, June 12, in Racine, Wis.
The conference is sponsored by the SC Johnson Wax Fund and was organized by Fred Binkowski, senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin Great Lakes WATER Institute at Milwaukee. Binkowski’s work is funded by the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute.
"We wanted to link science to the primary stakeholders – the sport fishing community, commercial fishing groups, and devotees of the Friday night fish fry," Binkowski said. "We designed the conference to be very interactive to provide the best mechanism of communicating science to the public. We hope to answer everyone’s questions."
The conference begins at 8:00 a.m. in the SC Johnson Golden Rondelle Theater, 1525 Howe St., Racine. Advance registration is necessary. Call (414) 260-2154 to register.
In the morning sessions, Sea Grant researchers and natural resource managers from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan will present their findings and answer questions. In the afternoon session, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in an interactive workshop including demonstrations and displays of field sampling gear such as Neuston nets, beach seines, bottom trawls, plankton nets, and light traps. Laboratory research equipment and resource materials will be available to examine and discuss with scientists. These include experimental tanks, otolith bones (taken from a fish’s ears to determine its age), perch eggs, perch sac-fry and larvae, and plankton.
The SC Johnson Wax Fund is the philanthropic investment arm of SC Johnson, a 113-year-old family-owned, family- managed company with worldwide headquarters in Racine. Since 1992, SC Johnson has received over 40 awards from government, environmental, and consumer organizations for its international corporate environmental leadership.
For More Information:
Eileen Walter, Administrator, SC Johnson Wax Fund, (414) 260-2826Created in 1966, Sea Grant is a national network of 30 university-based programs of research, outreach and education dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of the United States' coastal, ocean and Great Lakes resources. The National Sea Grant Network is a partnership of participating coastal states, private industry and the National Sea Grant College Program , National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration , U.S. Department of Commerce . The University of Wisconsin Sea Grant College Program is administered by the Sea Grant Institute on the UW-Madison campus in Madison, Wisconsin.
Posted 5/28/99 by Karl
Last updated 29 March 2000 by Karl
All contents copyright 1998 University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute
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